Strife: Blade of Legend
by Gohan Roxas
Summary: Tifa Lockhart used to be a normal girl with a boring day job in a museum. Until he showed up. Now she's on some kind of mission to find an ancient sword that might not even exist. Maybe she shouldn't have gone to work that day. AU. CloTi, Zerith. Inspired by Brown Eyed Sage's "Caelum: The Red Eye". Go read that for a taste of what to expect. Rated T for the usual reasons.
1. Thieves, Kidnappers & Myths

_**This is kinda ripping off another fic, but at the same time making it my own. Anyway, I haven't written for CloTi in a while, so… I thought I'd change that.**_

For Doctor Tifa Lockhart, the day started like any other. The routine was basic: check in at her job in the Smithsonian, then spend all day categorizing all the new artefacts that came in, pausing only for occasional coffee breaks, and a lunch break with her friend Aerith. At the end of the day, she'd catch the train home, get some pizza or something for her dinner, talk to her uncle Zangan over the phone, check her emails, then go to bed. Bed. She fantasised about her bed often while working late. Like she was now.

"Tifa!" a woman's voice shouted.

"Huh? The answer's nine!" Tifa yelled, lifting her head from her desk. She looked around to see an innocent-looking brunette with stunning green eyes looking at her, her arms crossed.

"Sorry, Aerith," Tifa apologised, blushing in embarrassment. "It's just… I haven't been getting much sleep lately."

Aerith raised an eyebrow. "Why's that?"

"I don't know, it's just…" She sighed. "Ever since that stupid stone foot got here, I haven't been able to sleep!"

"Stone…foot?" Her friend sounded puzzled.

"You know…that piece of some long-forgotten sculpture that I categorized about a week ago."

"Oh, that! Why would you be losing sleep over that?"

Tifa sighed again. "I have no idea."

Aerith gave a slight giggle as she picked up her coat. "Anyway, shift's over, Teef. Maybe you'll get some sleep tonight."

The fiery-eyed woman smiled wanly. "Well, you never know until you try." She got up from her chair, grabbed her own coat and followed her friend out the door.

**STRIFE**

Completely oblivious to the mundane conversations in that room, a man crawled carefully through the vents of the museum.

_The vents…_ he lamented internally. _How cliché can you get?_

He eventually found the room he was looking for…and the object it contained. He smirked as he kicked the hatch and landed expertly on the floor. He looked around to check for guards before, satisfied there was no danger, he moved in on his target.

**STRIFE**

"Hold on, Aer," Tifa said unexpectedly as they moved to the door.

"What's up?"

"I wanna take a look at that foot."

"This is the same foot that's making you lose sleep, right?" Aerith protested mildly. "And you wanna get one last look at it before you try to get some?"

"It sounds crazy, but yes I do."

Aerith rolled her eyes and shook her head; she moved to the door. "I'm not waiting for you, OK? I'll see you tomorrow."

Tifa smiled. "Sure thing. Just you and me at the best job in the world!"

Aerith laughed as she walked out.

Tifa watched her go, then moved to the nearby Greek exhibit.

**STRIFE**

The intruder, meanwhile, was checking for alarms surrounding his prize. This was, after all, a precious object. He found no alarms of any sort, so he shrugged and went to grab it.

"Hey!" a woman shouted behind him.

_Shit! Busted._ He turned to spy a tall, curvaceous woman standing there in a dark coat, her gloved hands on her hips.

"You know you can't just take things that don't belong to you."

He smiled behind his ski-mask. "Oh, I can. In fact, it's kinda my job."

Her fists clenched. "You know what I mean!" Suddenly, she adopted a fighting stance: feet at shoulder-width apart, fists held out in front of her.

He chuckled disbelievingly. "You really wanna risk damaging all these precious artefacts, sweetheart?"

She gritted her teeth at the word _sweetheart_, but said nothing.

Noticing she wasn't going to back down, the intruder smirked and adopted his own ready stance. "Have it your way."

She was the first to move, dashing in close to hit him with her fists. He dodged swiftly, but did not counterattack. She stared hard at him and continued to throw punches. He started to block the strikes, but still did not counter.

He didn't see the heavy kick to his side coming.

He grimaced as her shin made contact with his ribs, involuntarily dropping his guard.

The woman saw her chance and lashed out. She landed heavy blows to his torso, before landing a heavy uppercut to his chin, which sent him flying. He landed heavily in front of the pedestal, where he lay still.

Satisfied that the man was down for the count, his adversary dusted her gloved palms together.

She suddenly fell to earth, landing on her front on the floor.

With surprising agility, the man had performed a sweeping kick to her legs, pulling them out from under her. He now stood over her, his mask clasped in his hand, his blue eyes staring at her coldly.

"Sorry to do this, sweetheart." He knelt down and raised her up slightly. He landed a sharp karate chop to her neck, rendering her unconscious immediately.

He moved quickly to the podium, grabbing the object and placing it in his black bag.

On some strange impulse he looked back at the limp form of the woman. She actually wasn't that bad-looking. Ah, who was he trying to kid? She was gorgeous.

_Hey!_ his mind shouted at him. _Focus on the job, not your lack-lustre love life!_

He walked up to her, ignoring his mind's protests. He eventually found an ID card poking out of her coat pocket. _Dr Tifa Lockhart_, it read. So she worked here, huh? Maybe she could…

He hauled her up onto his shoulder and moved quickly to the getaway car outside, glancing around to see if anyone was around.

When he got into the black SUV that was parked outside, unceremoniously dumping his unplanned guest in a seat, the driver, a tall black man with a prosthetic arm, looked back at him, puzzled. "You in the kidnappin' business now?"

"Shut up," the thief sneered. "She saw my face, and she works there. Maybe she can help us work out the puzzles."

The driver cackled. "An' her tits had nothin' to do with it, right?"

"I told you to shut up!"

The dark-skinned man laughed even harder, but gunned the engine. Within seconds, they were gone.

_**Please REVIEW!**_


	2. Rogues Are We

_**Sorry that it's been so long since the first chapter, I needed to do some research. Now, some of the facts that are in here aren't exact. I've modified some of them so that everyone can understand. Is that okay? Cool. Let's go!**_

When Tifa came to, she was tied to a bed in a decrepit room. _Great,_ she lamented. _Beaten in a fight by some guy with blonde hair… Now I'm gonna get sexually abused in some shithouse! What a day…_

The door opened. _Let's see the ugly lech who beat me,_ Tifa snarled in her head.

She was right on the 'who beat me' part, because the guy who walked in, though Tifa would never admit it, was…_damn_, he was good-looking.

His blonde hair was spiky and short-cropped, and he had haunting blue eyes. His arms were muscular, poking out from his black T-shirt. He was carrying a tray covered in food. With some effort, Tifa tried to look angry and disinterested.

"I brought you some breakfast," her kidnapper said mildly, brandishing the tray. "I figured that you'd need something to help you get your energy back after last night."

Tifa's amber eyes widened. "Did we…?"

The man laughed, a deep sound that almost made her blush. "No. I was talking about the little...sparring session we had at the Smithsonian."

Tifa would have rubbed the bruise on her neck if her hands were free. Which reminded her… "Are you gonna untie me?"

He looked at her, amused.

"I mean, I can't eat without my hands, can I?" she continued.

The man's only response was to pick up a fork full of mashed potatoes and put it in her mouth, feeding her.

She chewed and swallowed, her eyes never leaving his. "Well?"

"Only if you promise not to hit me."

"I can't promise that," she replied, playing along.

"Well then, you're not getting untied."

Her eyes flashed with fury, and she started struggling against her bonds.

He chuckled again and put the tray down. "Fine. But if you hit me again I'm tying you back up." Without another word, he untied her hands from the bedposts. Immediately Tifa lashed out with her right hand, which was caught in his firm grip.

_Oh crap,_ she thought, _he's gonna tie me up again._

But he didn't. He instead let her arm go and pointed to the tray. "Eat. Jessie would kill me if you starved to death."

"But you said…"

"…if you hit me again, I'll tie you back up, I know. But you didn't hit me. You _tried_, but you didn't actually do it."

Tifa did not respond. Sighing, her kidnapper picked the tray back up and handed it to her. "Eat," he repeated.

Wordlessly, Tifa started eating. The food was surprisingly good.

"So, I think it's time I introduced myself. My name is Cloud Strife. A pleasure to meet you, Dr Lockhart."

"Wha…"

"You were wearing a nametag," he reminded her. Without another word, he suddenly pulled off his shirt.

"Hey!"

"Oh, relax. This is where I keep my clothes. Though I'm gonna have to move them somewhere else." He moved towards the small wardrobe.

"But why keep your clothes here?" Tifa demanded.

"There isn't enough room in the apartment I share with Biggs," Cloud explained.

Tifa huffed, but did not reply. For no reason she couldn't comprehend, her eyes started scanning his shirtless form. He was amazingly muscular, presumably from constant rigorous training. What really caught her eye, though, was the large black 'S' that was tattooed on his right arm. She'd seen that mark before…on the news or something… Something about 'illegal human experiments' being conducted by some company… What was the name again? SOLDIER? SHIELD? SWORD? No…

"You're Shinra?" she whispered hoarsely.

He looked at her, pain flashing in his eyes. "I was," he replied in a small voice. "I guess you recognised the mark, huh?"

Wordlessly, Tifa nodded.

"Well, I was part of Project S…one of its test subjects. Project S was designed by one of Shinra's top scientists, Hojo. Its aim was to create the ultimate super-soldiers, and they came close to succeeding. From what I can remember of the procedure they used a rare chemical called Mako, and injected it into our bodies. The Mako increased our strength, speed, eyesight, stamina… You name it, it perfected it."

"But…"

"How am I here now?" he finished her sentence. "Before Project S was found out, I escaped… Left behind my best friend to do it, too. I hated myself for that for a long time. After I left, I became a mercenary. You know, a hired gun, willing to do pretty much anything to get the job done. That's how I wound up here…" He gestured around him, clutching a dark blue shirt in one hand. There was a small scar on his stomach, nestled within his abs. _Dammit Tifa! Stop checking him out! He kidnapped you, for God's sake!_ "…working for AVALANCHE," Cloud continued.

"AVALANCHE?" Tifa asked.

"We're 'procurers of ancient artefacts'," he explained lamely.

"Treasure hunters, you mean?"

Cloud winced. "That is such a harsh term. No. Treasure hunters sell the things they find – most of the time – whereas we give them to the museums."

"You _give_ to museums?" Tifa blurted incredulously. "You _stole_ from the Smithsonian!"

"Yeah, well…" Cloud wasn't even slightly embarrassed. "You remember, right? 'Willing to do pretty much anything to get the job done'? I already explained this, Doctor."

Tifa's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

He rolled his own eyes. "Fine, be that way." He pulled on the shirt and walked to the door. "I'm coming to see you again later, by the way. We have some business to attend to." Smiling in a friendly manner, he walked out the door, closing it quietly behind him.

_I hate that guy_, Tifa growled internally.

**STRIFE**

The Smithsonian was full of noise as the workers, police and spectators milled around, amazed by the theft of what was being called 'The Foot of Achilles', and the kidnapping of Doctor Tifa Lockhart. Police officers took photos of the crime scene and interviewed workers and guards. Aerith Gainsborough was overcome with worry as she looked at the scene. Tifa was her best friend, and now she was gone.

Behind her, a tall man in a long overcoat took in the scene. His dark hair was spiky, and there was a scar on his left cheek. His blue eyes shone even in the light. "Sloppy, Cloud," he murmured to himself. "You've gotten soft over the years." Calmly, he walked off, pulling his phone out of his pocket as he walked. As soon as the person on the other side of the line picked up, the man started talking. "Sir. The Foot is gone, and a museum worker was taken as well. Yes, sir. It was Strife, sir. I'm sure of it. This has practically got his name all over it." He glanced back at the worried form of Aerith, and his eyes glinted. She was a looker, that's for sure. "I'll take care of it, don't worry."

He resumed walking towards his black convertible. "Yes, sir. Thank you, Mr Shinra." He hung up and climbed into the car. He sped off, and no one took any notice of him.

**STRIFE**

Eventually Cloud returned, as promised, clutching that damned stone foot in one hand. The foot was plain, apart from a golden anklet and some obscure markings on the heel.

"The foot?" Tifa asked, confused. "You took the stupid foot?! Of all the things you could steal…"

"This was the only thing I wanted," Cloud deadpanned. He placed it on the small wooden table near the bed, pointing the heel towards her. "You know your Ancient Greek, Doc?"

Tifa scowled. "Why do you want to know?"

"1) Because I don't know Ancient Greek. 2) You don't know what this is, do you?"

Tifa glared at him.

He smirked. "You don't!" He chuckled. "Alright, I'll tell you. This…is the Foot of Achilles. Part of a lost statue of Achilles, the Greek hero from the siege of Troy. It was created by a Trojan who escaped the fall of the city on Aeneas' ship."

Tifa tilted her head. Greek mythology wasn't her strongpoint.

"Aeneas was one of the men who founded Rome, along with Romulus and Latinus," Cloud explained as if he was talking to a child.

"Oh yeah."

Cloud rolled his eyes. "The inscription on the ankle is supposed to contain a clue to Aeneas' most prized possession…the Royal Sword of Troy…given to him by Paris as Troy fell."

Tifa's eyes widened. That was a rare item indeed.

"So, can you help me?"

Tifa sighed. "I don't really have much choice here, do I?"

"Nope."

She sighed again. "Fine." She picked up the foot and peered at its description. "Ancient Greek isn't my strongpoint, but I can try."

Cloud crossed his arms, waiting.

Tifa peered at the inscription, translating it in her head as she read. "_The Blade is much sought, and will not be found with speed. If you be worthy, read these words, and the Blade shall be freed. At the grave of the Lover in __Karkhēdōn shall the next strand be found, but beware the traps that we have placed, far below the ground._" She raised her head. "Well, that sounds like complete bullshit to me."

Cloud smirked. "Oh no. Now I know exactly where to go. Carthage."

"Carthage?"

"Hello? 'Karkhēdōn' is the Ancient Greek name for Carthage, which is in Tunisia. And 'the Lover' is probably Dido."

"The singer?"

"No! How the hell did you get to be a doctor? The Queen of Carthage! Aeneas passed through Carthage as he fled Troy, and he and Dido fell in love. After a while though, Aeneas was forced to leave, and Dido committed suicide out of sorrow."

"Damn… She must've really loved him."

Cloud nodded. "That's beside the point, though. My guess is that 'the next strand' is the next clue to the Sword's whereabouts. So we'll find the next clue in Tunisia."

"Wait a sec, did you just say 'we'?" Tifa demanded.

"Oh, did I forget to mention?" He smirked. "You're coming too."

_Yep, I definitely hate him._

_**Just to clear up, these are the things that I modified:**_

_**- Aeneas wasn't given the Sword of Troy by Paris. It was King Priam that did it. I borrowed the whole 'Paris-giving-him-the-sword' from the movie 'Troy'**_

_**- Aeneas didn't found Rome with Romulus and Latinus. That's a fusion of two of the founding myths. One has Romulus killing his twin Remus and founding Rome on his own. The other has Aeneas, Latinus and a son of Odysseus found it. I just did it this was to cover all bases.**_

_**Well, that's that. PLEASE REVIEW.**_


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